Chasing Pavements
by Kuruk
Summary: Chasing after something that may or may not be at the end of that long road can be unwise... but sometimes it makes all the difference. Ann/Cliff.


_Hey guys, it's Kuruk with a oneshot._

_Well, I really like this one and I hope you do too. In case you don't know the title is based off of the song 'Chasing Pavements' be ADELE. The song is phenomenal and I highly recommend that you check the song and ADELE out and maybe hear it while reading this?_

_This story's about Ann, and I've never written from Ann's POV so I hope I got her character down right..._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon. The song 'Chasing Pavements' isn't mine either... :(

_Hope you like it :)_

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_**Chasing Pavements**_

"Oh c'mon, Annie, I'm not drunk."

"Yes you are."

"I'm not! Look what I can do!"

"N-no! D-don't do that-,"

"See! If I were drunk could I do that?"

"You just _wrecked_ the tables...!"

"Oops... yeah, I kinda did..."

Now everyone's looking at me. They expect a show or something-- me, Ann the feisty, ever-so-temperamental barmaid exploding at the world.

Yeah, I should explode, shouldn't I?

Karen may be a really good friend of mine, but she knows that when she gets drunk she loses all reason like most of us do. I should blame her, should scream at her and tell her that she's have to pay for everything she damaged...

Instead...

"Just go home, Karen," I sighed, looking away from her and everyone else, "Go home and sleep, wake up tomorrow with a killer hangover and stay in bed all day, would you?"

Karen just giggled and got up from the fallen table she had unceremoniously and disastrously somersaulted onto just moments before. Rick, ever the faithful and helpful boyfriend, darted across the room and supported his wobbly girlfriend out the door.

Oh joy. Everyone's _still_ looking at me.

"What?" I ask everyone as menacingly as I can, which isn't that menacing, unfortunately. Still, it did the trick-- everyone looked away and back at their drinks, the chatter returning to the Inn slowly.

You're probably wondering why I'm so down. Well, take a number. Everyone's wondering why I'm 'so down'. Everyone from Manna, who just wants to add this to her gossip to my friends like Elli, Mary and Karen.

If I haven't told them, what makes you think I'd tell the whole world?

I absently do my work as the patrons file out. I don't notice though, I hardly notice anymore...

Dad closes shop and before he can make his way over to me and try to talk, I ghost my way up the stairs and into my room where I close and lock the door.

I'm not one for crying into my pillow so you'll forgive me if I don't do anything dramatic like that. I'm more like the girl that screams into her pillow and wrecks the room she carefully cleaned earlier that day...

I let out a shriek of all the frustration I've been holding in all day. And the I proceed to wreck my room. Throw over my mattress, toss books all over the place, yank open my closet doors and throw all my clothes out of there...

I'm drained by the time Gray bangs through the walls for me to be quiet, so I just slide down onto the pile of clothes I had thrown out of my closet and all over my room and fall asleep, blissfully quick, for once.

When I wake up the next morning I'm happy to discover I didn't have a nightmare the night before. This usually means that tonight I'm going to have the hardest time falling asleep only to wake up sweating and screaming because of a nightmare.

Still, it's a night's sleep-- I'll take it.

But you'll excuse me if I'm not exactly Little Miss Sunshine because of it...

Cleaning up my room does nothing for my bad mood...

When everything is back in order, I make my way down the stairs and out the room. You know what? Dad won't mind that much if I take the day off today. It's been a long time coming and you know what? I really don't care if he does mind.

So I take to strolling around town, avoiding people and trying my hardest not to think about anything, because thinking usually leads to thinking about _that person_, and that'll just make me wreck something again.

It's a about half an hour later that I absentmindedly stroll into the Church.

It's only when I'm halfway down the pews when I notice where it is that I've just strolled into.

And I panic...

Damn, damn, damn! Why the heck did I just walk into the last place I want to be!?

I try to leave but just then I hear a door behind me open and a familiar voice call my name. "Ann," Carter calls warmly, "It's good to see you again."

Damn.

I turn around. "Yeah... it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Too long," Carter agrees, his usual smile on his face.

What feels like _years_ of silence passes between us before Carter clears his throat and speaks again. "So Ann, how can I help you today?"

"N-no... I don't need help... I just came in for no reason, no reason at all!"

Carter goes about lighting incense. "Oh?"

"Yeah..." I reply lamely.

"Well Ann," he says as he spreads the acrid smelling smoke around, "I'm a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason, including something like an old friend walking in here after two seasons of absence."

"N-no..."

Carter puts the incense down and starts heading back towards the confessional. "If you need to talk about it, I'll be in the confessional. If not, it was nice seeing you again, Ann. May the Goddess bless you."

Before I can say anything else he's gone.

Damn it!

Seconds later I'm heading towards the confessional. Damn it, feet! Stop it!

I've opened the door and sat down by the time I regain control of my feet, but of course, it's too late.

Carter stays silent for a few seconds and then I notice he's waiting for me to start speaking. "I-it's been a while..."

Carter chuckles. "Yes, it has been a while, though I believe we were already over that outside."

We both stay silent for a lot longer before I start talking. "Something has been bothering me for... what? Two freaking seasons already?"

I can see Carter's silhouette nod through the screen separating the two rooms. "Go on," he urges me kindly.

"I haven't said it out loud because I don't want to jinx it but..." I pause, searching for the resolve to say it, "It's... my boyfriend... well, my ex-boyfriend..."

"Ah... Cliff..." Carter says and I flinch at the mention of his name.

"Yeah..." I say, looking down at my thighs.

"What about Cliff?" Carter asks.

I don't know why it happens now, but I kinda exploded. "_Everything_ about Cliff!" I scream, "How he could make me act like some stupid lovesick schoolgirl that I _hate_ and then how he can just _leave me _here and break my heart like one of Mary's _stupid novels_ and then how he can just call me out of the blue a week later and make my fall in love with him _again_ when he _isn't coming back!"_

Carter takes advantage of me pausing for breath. "You still have feelings for him?"

"_Yes!"_ I scream it, cursing myself for admitting it at the same time, "And it's stupid and I can't tell anyone because they'll tell me that I have no self-respect and that I'm being an idiot but I can't help it!"

"Why not?" Carter asks calmly.

"Because! I just _know_ he's the one! Like one of Mary's _stupid books!_ I know he's the one I'm going to spend the rest of my life with because whenever I'm cooking cheesecake I add _chocolate syrup_ and no one but him likes the cheesecake that way! And when I imagine myself older I can't tear away an image of a little boy that look _exactly_ like him except with my hair! I can feel it, damn it!"

Carter makes a sound of understanding. "So what's stopping you from having this future with him?"

I groan. "He lives so far away! He just left Mineral Town! Just left me here alone with a bunch of people that _aren't him_! We don't exist in each other's worlds but we _do!_ Get me? Like we're ghosts there and yet I still love him!"

"How do you plan to fix that?" Carter asks me.

I pause. "I don't want to leave Mineral Town..." I murmur.

"So that leaves only one option, doesn't it?" Carter supplies.

I nod. "But... but... he won't listen to me... he won't come back..."

Carter sighs sadly. "Yes, he's talked to me about it..."

I ignore his comment. "It's like, Carter... I don't know what to do... I can either keep chasing after him even though it'll probably never lead me anywhere or I can tear myself away from this stupid love and suffer... And I don't know which one I worse."

"It's like you're chasing pavements," Carter says, "They never end, branch off into many different directions..."

I nod in defeat, knowing that Carter will tell me to give up, to stop living this lie and force myself to get over this... which is exactly why I didn't talk to anyone about it... oh Goddess, I knew this was a mistake...

"Ann," Carter begins. I take a deep breath, "I can assure you that Cliff feels the same way," I freeze, "Tell him, Ann. Tell him everything. Don't hold anything back and he'll come back here. Your love for him will call his for you, he won't be able to tell you no if you're completely honest with him."

I'm still frozen. "Ann?"

I run out of the confessional, out of the Church, out into the fresh air, leaving Carter behind.

I'm an idiot. Why didn't I think of this?

It may be a stupid idea that may not work, no matter what Carter thinks, but I have to try... because, I don't know... if I don't try I'll only make things worse for myself, like the big idiot that I am...

I bang open the doors to the Inn and the lunch crows looks at me in shock, even Dad, who looks torn between surprise and anger. I run towards the phone and dial the number Cliff left me so long ago, when he called me two seasons ago.

I don't care who's watching, I'm going to do this, right now.

I'm breathless as it rings, and I c an only open my mouth dumbly when someone answers.

"H-hello...?"

It's him. That damn shy voice that always struck a chord with me, that made me happy when I was angry... that still has my heart even now, when he's so far away and I'm under so much pain...

I open my mouth to speak, and everything jumbles in my mouth. I hear him fidget over the line, I don't know how, but I can feel his indecision...

"Hello...?" he asks again.

I shake my head, knowing he can't see me, but I do it anyway. And then I talk. "I'm done chasing stupid pavements, Cliff," I say into the phone, acutely aware how his breathing hitches at my voice, how everyone in the Inn falls silent at his name, "I want you to come home..."

And then I tell him everything, and it all tumbles out in a jumbled mess, but I know he can understand me, just how I can understand him when he trails off into mutters.

I finish, breathless... and his answer brings tears to my eyes.

"O-okay..." he murmurs.

I'm crying and laughing at the same time. Goddess...

"I-I... love you..." I say, unaware that this is the first time I say this to him.

I can almost see his scarlet blush... "I-I-I... l-l-l-love y-y-you t-too..." he replies...

And then I hang up, and with everyone's eyes on me, I let out a shriek of pure, unadulterated sheer joy.

Sometimes chasing pavements isn't so bad... when you find what you're looking for on the way...

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_A/N: Well, this is one of my favorite oneshots that I've written. It started out slow but then it just flowed and I like the way it turned out._

_I hope you liked the way it turned out too. Please review, I love them. :D_


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